Error message

This error is the result of a change in Apple's App Store verification process to prevent users from hitting issues like Bug 29180. This specific error is not related to the particular version of Xamarin you have installed, so downgrading will not help.

Steps to solve

Use these steps if you have upgraded to the following versions (or higher). If using older versions of Xamarin see the "old workaround" section below.

Xamarin Studio 5.9.1.3

XamarinVS 3.11.458

Xamarin.iOS 8.10.0.303

Since Apple now requires 64-bit support for all uploads the App Store, these steps also assume the use of the Unified API.

For IDE builds in Xamarin Studio on Mac

Create an archive using the "Build -> Archive for Publishing" menu item.

Use the "Sign and Distribute" button in Xamarin Studio as described in the docs to create the .ipa.

when you think you can release a fix for this problem?
I tried the VS workaround with no success.
I managed to use the workaround for xamarin studio but then I had some problems with Apple validation on some images (it's strange because on VS I had no problems, so there can be some difference between iOS icon under VS and XS).

Anyway, it's seems really an easy thing to fix for you, please do it as soon as possible!

One thing to note, make sure that when you are submitting through XCode that you sign with the provision which is associated to your administrator Apple account. I mistakenly tried to submit with a development provision, which was quickly slapped down.

If you're lazy like me, you like to have the computer do things for you. Here's a (very LIGHTLY tested) bash script to have it yank the iTunesMetadata.plist file from the most recent archive, an then open XCode so you can submit it. Important notes: it only checks the most recent .xarchive folder, and it's written with the assumption that you're not publishing more than one app (you'd have to tweak the script to take a name as input to support that); it's meant to be used in a "Archive for Publish" -> script -> "Submit from XCode" workflow.

Hope it's useful to someone!

Note: I could not get the markdown to allow me to properly escape the shebang and comment, so make sure you replace any \# characters with #.

In case anyone might have been hitting "Invalid Signature. A sealed resource is missing or invalid.", I've updated the first post in the thread with some additional information about that error plus a troubleshooting step with codesign --verify.

I build my final distribution builds with my CI automated build system using xbuild. Since xbuild comes from the Mono.framework and not XamStudio, will a new XamStudio fix this for me too? I do not use the new publishing workflow since I have my automated CI build system.

@panoramicsoft This build of Xamarin Studio does not change the build at all, it only patches the dialog that creates an IPA from an archive in order to submit to the AppStore (or AdHoc/Enterprise distribution).

We are facing this issue too. I was able to archive last week with out any issues. But now I get this error. We did not update Xamarin studio also from the last week.
Eagerly waiting for a proper build/steps to fix this issue.

The fix explained earlier about going into the IPA folder and deleting the iTunes file worked for me. Xamarin studios build: 5.8.3. after deleting the file I verified the IPA using Xcode and submitted the build to the iStore. my app build works just as intended. Testflight's users reported zero errors with the build.

Until this latest Alpha release, Bug 24416 and 24417 had been unchanged compared to XamarinVS 3.7. (Before XamarinVS 3.7, XamarinVS did not attempt to copy the .ipa file to Windows from the Mac build host at all. The "Alternate workaround for Visual Studio" in the first post in this thread hints at the "old, pre-XamarinVS 3.7" way to get the IPA file: take the IPA file directly from the Mac build host. This "old" technique completely side-steps the problem of getting a 0 byte IPA file on Windows.)

Bug 29822 was a regression between XVS 3.9 and XVS 3.11 (from here). It is now fixed in the Alpha service release for XVS 3.11.

The fix for the Xamarin Studio "Build -> Archive for Publishing" workflow on Mac (from earlier in the thread) has now been published to the Stable Channel as a hotfix against the previous Stable Channel version Xamarin Studio 5.9.0 (build 431).

Important: You must use the "Sign and Distribute" button in Xamarin Studio as described in the docs if you want Xamarin Studio to remove the iTunesMetadata.plist file automatically. You can then upload the resulting .ipa file using Application Loader. If you want to use Xcode to upload the app directly from the .xcarchive, you will need to remove the iTunesMetadata.plist file by hand using one of the workarounds mentioned below. This behavior is intentional: it allows the same .xcarchive file to be used both for App Store distribution as well as Ad Hoc distribution.

I to am effected. Since there's this whole hullabaloo to fixing it at this time I will stick with the work around. Till then I will waiting for a proper update/fix....

Unfortunately the work around doesn't work so well for me but I will give it another shot later--I'm exhausted trying get around this. Basically I can remove the file in question, but when I do and re-package everything the Application Loader complains there is a sealed resource missing or invalid..